Starrcade 2000: WCW's Flagship Was Better at the End Than It Had Any Right to Be

The opener is dangerous, occasionally sloppy and undeniably exciting. Shane Helms, Shannon Moore, Kaz Hayashi, Yun Yang, Jamie Knoble and Evan Karagias begin with a crowd that sounds largely indifferent and then keep escalating until the building has no choice but to respond. The ladders become bridges, launch points and crash zones without completely replacing the wrestlers' identities.

There are timing problems and several sequences look one half-step from disaster. That keeps the match out of the highest range. The positive side is ambition. These are young wrestlers treating a pay-per-view opener like an opportunity rather than a placement.

The finish leaves 3 Count alone atop the structure, with Helms and Moore retrieving the contract together. The logic of two men winning a singles title opportunity is questionable, but the visual works. As a match, this is the clear peak of the night and one of WCW's better final-year cruiserweight showcases.

Lance Storm gives Ernest Miller a structure that almost works: control the pace, interrupt the kicks and let The Cat's personality carry the comeback. Miller remains limited as a wrestler, but the audience understands his character and responds when he starts building momentum.

Then the match becomes about Team Canada. Elix Skipper interferes, Jim Duggan arrives, hesitates, attacks Miller after all and allows Storm to win with the Maple Leaf. Immediately afterward Team Canada turns on Duggan, creating another storyline pivot before the previous one has settled.

Storm's execution keeps the match from becoming bad, and Miller is charismatic enough to make the comeback sections readable. The finish is the deduction. WCW uses a seven-minute singles match as transportation for multiple alignment changes when a clean Storm win would have accomplished more.

Terry Funk and Crowbar understand that the match is supposed to feel uncontrolled. They begin backstage, fight through trucks and doors, use tables and eventually make their way into the arena. Funk's greatest skill is giving random violence an emotional center; even when the objects are absurd, he behaves like every shot is part of a personal fight.

Crowbar meets that commitment with reckless bumps and enough offense to threaten the veteran. Daffney becomes involved late, helping create another near fall before Funk finally wins with a piledriver onto a car door.

The chair shots to the head have aged horribly, and the match is difficult to separate from that issue. Within the standards of the era, though, the work is energetic and coherent. Funk winning the Hardcore Championship feels appropriate. It is entertaining chaos with a modern safety asterisk attached.

The wrestling is not the main problem. Brian Adams, Bryan Clark, Big Vito and Reno can all execute a basic heavyweight tag match. The problem is that the story becomes so convoluted that the action cannot establish who the audience should support or what the teams are trying to accomplish.

Marie is accused of hiring KroniK. The Natural Born Thrillers appear. Reno eventually tags in and immediately turns on Big Vito with the Roll of the Dice. He then appears to pin his own partner despite the match structure, and the official outcome becomes a no-contest.

A betrayal should clarify a story. This one creates more questions than answers. The crowd does not have enough stable information to emotionally invest, and the wrestling itself is too ordinary to overcome that. It is one of the purest examples of late-WCW booking making a simple angle harder than it needed to be.

Mike Awesome and Bam Bam Bigelow should produce a satisfying power fight. Both are large, athletic and credible around weapons. The ambulance stipulation instead sends most of the match toward the entrance area, where movement becomes slower and the crowd loses connection to the action.

There are decent moments. Bigelow backdrops Awesome through a table, both men use the vehicle itself as a weapon, and the size of the wrestlers gives the fight a legitimate crash-test quality. The finish is the problem: Bigelow falls through the roof of the ambulance, which is treated as sufficient for Awesome to win.

The visual is memorable, but the match never develops into a strong contest. It feels constructed around reaching one stunt rather than building a rivalry toward a finish. That makes the eight-minute runtime feel longer than it is.

General Rection and Shane Douglas work a conventional title match until the booking decides convention is insufficient. Douglas controls stretches with familiar heel offense, Rection makes the power comeback, and the crowd responds only mildly because neither man has enough momentum to make the championship feel major.

The finish is pure late WCW. Douglas has a hidden chain. Chavo Guerrero Jr. appears, takes the chain, throws it back to Douglas and then alerts the referee so Douglas is caught using it. Rection retains by disqualification.

The idea advances Chavo's relationship with the Misfits in Action and protects Douglas from a pin. It also leaves a pay-per-view title match without a satisfying wrestling finish. The effort is acceptable and Douglas-Rection can work together. The audience is asked to care more about the trick than the match, and the score reflects that.

There is enough talent here for something much better. Rey Mysterio Jr., Billy Kidman and Konnan bring speed and personality; Jeff Jarrett can organize a match; the Harris Brothers provide size. Instead, the bunkhouse structure becomes a parade of trash cans, signs, a prop bar and other objects.

The first portion is chaotic, then the match abruptly begins enforcing tags, creating a tonal shift that makes the rules feel improvised. Mysterio disappears into a dumpster and later returns, Kidman takes most of the meaningful heat, and the crowd never fully buys into the danger.

The finish comes when a Harris brother uses a liquor bottle on Kidman so Jarrett can hit the Stroke. It is another protected heel victory built on outside assistance. There are fun isolated moments, but the match wastes Mysterio and Kidman's strengths by asking them to become garbage-match accessories.

This is the first match in a while that feels important because the crowd cares about Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash. Chuck Palumbo and Shawn Stasiak are credible enough as young champions, and the veterans do not treat them like background players. Page takes the longer control segment, Nash receives the hot tag and the match builds toward a straightforward veteran comeback.

WCW still adds interference. Mike Sanders is restricted by Ric Flair, other Natural Born Thrillers appear, and Page has to neutralize Stasiak and the run-ins before Nash can finish Palumbo with the Jackknife.

The clutter prevents a higher score, but the wrestling remains readable through it. Palumbo looks useful, Stasiak plays the cocky heel well enough, and the Insiders have genuine star presence. The title change gets one of the better reactions of the evening.

It is not a classic tag match. It is a reminder that crowd investment and simple roles can rescue late-WCW overbooking.

Goldberg's presence gives the match immediate importance. Luger spends the opening stretch trying to avoid him, Goldberg hunts him down, and the basic story works because the audience understands the power gap. Luger only gains control by using the ringpost and brass knuckles.

The problem is Buff Bagwell. He accompanies Sarge, appears to accidentally hit Goldberg with the Blockbuster, then attacks Sarge more clearly while Goldberg continues the match. Goldberg eventually recovers, hits the spear and Jackhammer and wins anyway.

Afterward Bagwell attacks Goldberg with a chair and fully reveals the alliance with Luger. The angle advances the Sin program, but it distracts from a match that would have benefited from being a simple Goldberg revenge win. The wrestling is fine, the crowd cares, and the finish is decisive. The surrounding turn choreography keeps it from climbing higher.

Scott Steiner and Sid Vicious keep the main event within their strengths. They trade power offense, posture, brawl around the ring and allow Steiner's physical presence to carry the championship role. The crowd wakes up because the match feels like two actual heavyweights fighting for the top belt instead of another authority-figure puzzle.

There is interference from Midajah and Jeff Jarrett, including a lead pipe and an accidental guitar shot on Steiner. That is unnecessary protection, but the match survives because neither wrestler abandons the basic power structure.

Steiner repeatedly returns to the Recliner. Sid escapes earlier attempts, creating a simple escalation until the final application leaves him unable to continue. The champion retains by technical submission.

The match is much better than its reputation-by-association with late WCW. Steiner looks established, Sid works hard and the finish leaves the correct man standing. It is not a great world-title match, but it is a good one.